Brake-rigging for railway-cars.



W. H. SAUVAGE.

BRAKE RIGGING FOR RAILWAY GARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28,1907.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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W. H. SAUVAGE.

BRAKE RIGGING FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1907.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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W. H. SAUVAGE.

. BRAKE RIGGING FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2a, 1901' 909,232. Patented Jan. 12, 1909. [57% j 4 SHEETSSHEVET 3.

in van tar:

W. H. SAUVAGE.

BRAKE RIGGING FOR RAILWAY CARS.

AYPLIOATION FILED JAN. 28, 1901.

909,232. Patented Jan. 12, 1909. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4; i? a;

f P m WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

v BRAE-RIGGING FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

Application filed January 28, 1907. Serial No. 364,371.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake-Rigging for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a. specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

One object of this invention is to provide means whereby the slack of the brake rigging of railway cars can be readily and safely taken up and adjusted by the trainman whenever required. This part of-the invention is particularly applicable and is hereinafter described and shown as applied to railway cars provided with swiveling trucks and in which the dead lever is fulcrumed upon the car body so as to avoid the twisting strain upon the truck and the consequent danger of derailment which is incident to a powerful application of the brakes by hand or otherwise when the dead lever is fulcrumed upon the truck itself.

In accordance with the invention, the fulcrum of the dead lever is mounted upon the car body and means are provided whereby the fulcrum can be adjusted readily, such means being accessible to the trainman without requiring him to go under the car.

A further feature of the invent-ion relates also to the brake system just referred to, in' which the fulcrum of the dead lever is mounted on the car body, and consists in an improved construct-ion and arrangement of the brake rigging which is practicable only when the fulcrum of the dead lever is mounted on the car body.

The invention will be more fully explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which it is illustrated and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of'the improved brake rigging, the bottom of the car body being indicated by dotted lines, while the trucks are omitted altogether. Fig. 2 is a detail side elevation of the brake cylindershown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view on a larger scale, partly in longitudinal sect-ion and partly in elevation, showing a conventional form of truck and a portion of the car body with one form of the means for adjusting by hand the fulcrum of the dead lever applied thereto.. Fig. 4' is a plan view of the same without the car body, parts belng broken away. Fig. 5 is a detail-view, on a largerscale, of the adjustable fulcrum of the dead lever shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Figs. 6-9 are detail views showin modifications of the devices for adjustmg the fulcrum of the dead lever. Fig. 10 is a detail View, on a larger scale, of the clutch grip shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

In Fig. .3 of the drawings the car body a is shown as supported upon the body bolster b, which in turn is supported u on the truck bolster 0 through the usual king bolt or plate I). The truck bolster may be supported with springs 0 upon the sand plank (Z or other rigid portion of the truck frame. The brake shoes e with the brake beam 6 may be hung by links 6 from the sand plank d, the brake beams being centrally connected, as usual, by links e to the dead lever f and the live lever f, the two levers being connected, as usual, by the bottom rod f while the live lever f is connected to the top rod f of the brake actu ating mechanism, whether hand operated or power operated, the preferred arrangement of which isdescribed hereinafter.

In the application of the present improvements to a railway car of ordinary construccar body, hand operated devices, readily,

accessible from outside the truck, being provided for the purpose of adjusting or shifting the fulcrum from time to time to take up wear on the brake shoes and stretch of the connection and otherwise to take up the slack which is created from time to time in the ordinary usage.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 3, 4 and, 5, there is provided at the end of the dead leverf a toothed link g, which preferably has a slotted connection with the dead lever, as at g, for the-purpose of permitting the necessary free movement of the brake shoes for clearance, the teeth 9 of the link bein suitably formed to engage a pin g carrier? by a plate 9 which is secured to the car body a. For the purpose of holding the toothed link g yieldingly in engagement with the pin g a spring may be provided, as indicated at g. In this arrangement the lever f is also shown as connected by alink bl with a hand lever h which is pivoted upon a suitable bracket 72. also secured to the car body. It will now be seen that when it is necessary to take up slack in the brake rigging thetrainman has simply .to grasp the lever h and to pull the same in the direction and to an extent suflicient to cause the toothed link 9 to slip over the pin until the latter can be engaged by the next tooth 9 Obviously the first part of the movement of the lever is occupied in overcomin the clearance of the brake shoes, while-the final movement of the lever shifts the link g. When the hand lever is released the slot g permits the clearance of the brake shoes to be accommodated, but in the movement .of the link the lever is adjusted or shifted to the required. degree,

In the arrangement represented in Fig. 6 'a link i, toothed on its upper edge, as at a", and resting upon a roller 2' carried by the dead lever f, is pivoted upon a suitable support i secured to the car body. A pawl i having a slotted engagement with the lever f, as at i is adapted to engage the toothed link i, and may be yieldingly held in engagement therewith by a spring i. The slotted engagement of the pawl with the lever accommodates the clearance of the brake shoes as will be clearly understood without further description. In this arrangement a chain In is shown as connected to the link i and to a shaft 72 mounted in suitable brackets 70 and provided with an operating handle 70 at the side of the car. By rotating the shaft is the chain is wound upon it and the lever is drawn back until the pawl 71, slipping over the teeth of the link i, engages a fresh tooth and so holds the'fulcrum of the lever in its adjusted position,

In the ai'rangement shown in Fig. 7 the dead lever f is connected, as before, by a chain 70 with a shaft is mounted in suitable brackets 7: on the car body a and provided with an operating crank k The shaft in this instance is provided with a rigid wheel k engaged by a pawl Z mounted on a suitable bracket Z secured to the car body a and having a slotted engagement with the bracket, as indicated at Z, and being pressed normally forward by a suitable spring as Z By the rotation of he shaft the chain is wound u on it as bef re. During the first part offhe rotation of the shaft the pawl travels forward with the tooth of the rigid wheel with which it is at first en aged, but the continued rotation of the shaft causes a fresh tooth to be brought into engagement with the pawl, thereby securing the fulcrum of the lever f in its adjusted position, and when the pressure is removed from the crank In the shaft rotates backward to an fulcrum of the dead extent permitted by the slotted connection Z to accommodate the clearance of the brake shoes. I v

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 8 the dead lever f is pulled into itsposition of adjustment by a link we and chain or other flexible connection 07?. provided with a handlenn such flexible connection being suitablyguided by a guide pulley m Also connected with the lever f by a slotted connection n is a rod n arranged to slide in suitable bearings in the members of a U- shaped bracket 0, adjustably secured by a bolt and slot connection 0 to a second bracket 0 which is secured to the car body 61. Between the two members of the U- shaped bracket or yoke 0 there is placed upon the shaft a clutch grip p, shown in en-- larged view in F 1g. 10. Such clutch grip consists of a disk of material thickness having an aperture 7) which receives the rod a somewhat loosely. Between the clutch grip p and the forward member of the yoke 0 is placed a spring 32 which presses the clutch grip rearwardly. The latter is arranged to hear at one side against a suitable stop p which may be the head of the bolt which secures the yoke to the bracket 0 Vhen the lever f is turned forward to take up the slack the clutch grip p comes to a position at right angles with the rod n and the latter slips freely through the same in a forward direction or toward theright hand in Fig. 8. When, however, the pull of the handoperating devices on the lever f is released, the clutch grip 79, being pressed forward by the spring 3)", bears at one point against the sto p and is displaced from its position at rig t angles grips the rod tightly and holds it from further movement to the left in Fig. 8. It will be observed that the slotted connection a accommodates the clearance of the brake shoes, and furthermore that through the bolt and slot connection of the yoke 0 to the bracket 6 such adjustment of the bracket 0 can be effected as may be necessary to secure a proper operation of the devices.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 9 is quite similar to that shown in Fig. 8, but the operating handle-n is applied directly to the rod 11. which has a slotted connection a as before with the lever f. The rod n, as before, is provided with a clutch grip/p and spring 79 between the members of a yoke 0, which is itself adjustably mounted within a larger yoke o secured to the bracket 0 The yoke 0 is secured to the yoke 0 by a bolt and slot connection 0, the head of the bolt serving as a stop 79 for cooperation with the clutch grip 79. The operation of this arrangement will be readily understood without further explanation.

Various other hand operated means for to the rod and immediately etfectin the desired shiftin of the fulcrum of the ead lever will readi y suggest themselves and it is, therefore, to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise details of construction and arrangement shown and described herein. It will be seen moreover, whether by the articular means shown and described, or y others which may be substituted for them, the slack in the brake rigging can be readlly taken up or adjusted at any time without requiring the trainman to go beneath the car, it being simply necessary to arrangethe hand-operating devices in any convenient position readily accessible from the s1de of the car.

When the fulcrum of the dead lever 1s mounted on the car truck, as usual, so that the lever system of each truck is carried with the truck as it swivels with respect to the car body, the lever systems of the two trucks are of necessity oppositely set or placed in order to compensate for the swiveling of the two trucks in opposite directions on a curve, as-otherwise the parts of the brake rigging would be subjected to an excessive tension and liable to rupture. The mounting of each dead lever fulcrum on the car body, however, permits the lever systems of the two trucks to be arranged in the same position with respect to the longitudinal axis of the car. Such arran ement not only further relieves the truck of twisting strains but it permits a much simpler organization of the levers to be employed, reducing expense of manufacture as well as the weight of parts necessary to be moved and the liability to breakage by disarrangement. The further feature of the present invention, heretofore alluded to, resides therefore in the improved brake lever system herein described, which is specially adapted for use with the dead levers fu erumed on the car body.

As clearly shown in Fig. 1, live levers f are mounted in the same position with respect to the longitudinal axls of the car, their free ends pointing toward the same side of such axis. Both of the top rods f therefore lie on the same side of the longitudinal axis of the ear and connect such live levers directly with the cylinder levers f. The latter are connected by the tie rod f and one of them is connected directly to the brake actuator, which in this instance is shown as the piston rod 77 of the usual brake cylinder r, while the other so called cylinder lever travels between guides T which may be supported by the brake cylinder r and has therein an adjustable fulcrum, the end of the lever being connected to a chain 8 which is fast to a'transverse hand shaft 8 mounted in bearings 3 provided at each side of the car with a hand wheel 8 and, at some convenient point,with a ratchet and pawl s; Slack may thus be taken up easily and conveniently from either side of the car without requiring the'trainman to go beneath the car. For the operation of the brakes by hand the piston '2" maybe connected by a chain It, multiplier t,'link t and chain t with the staff t of the usual hand brake operating devices. It will be observed that the improved brake rigging is exceedingly simple in construction, that it does not require the usual floating lever and its connections and that it not only saves expense in manufacture but weight of parts to be moved;

I claim as my invention: 7

1. The combination with the dead levers of a brake rigging for railway cars etc. having each a shiftable fulcrum mounted on the car body, of hand operated devices also mounted on the car body and acting upon each of said levers to shift its fulcrum to a new position, means also mounted on the car body to retain the fulcra of the levers in their new positions, a brake cylinder with piston and piston rod, connected cylinder levers and similarly arranged lever, mechanism connecting each of the cylinder levers with the respective dead lever.

2. The combination with the dead levers of a brake rigging for railway cars etc., of links engaged with the fulcra of the levers respectively, hand operated devices supported on the car body to change the positions of the fulcra of thelevers, means also mounted on the car body and cooperating with the links to retain the fulcrum of each lever in its new position, a lost motion device included in the connections to each lever to accommodate clearance of the brake shoes, a brake cylinder with piston and piston rod, connected cylinder levers, and similarly arranged lever mechanism connecting each of the cylinder levers with the respective dead lever.

3. The combination of a car body, a brake actuator, cylinder levers, a tie rod connecting the cylinder levers, live levers, dead levers having shiftable fulcra, hand-operated devices mounted on the car body acting upon said shiftable fulcra to change their positions, means also mounted on the car body to retain the shiftable fulcra in their new positions, links directly connecting the cylinder levers with the live levers respectively and links connecting the live levers with the dead levers respectively, the two sets of levers and links, one at each end of the car, being arranged in the same position with respect to the longitudinal axis of the car.

4. The combination of a car body, a brake actuator, cylinder levers, a tie rod connecting the cylinder levers, live levers, dead levers, links directly connecting the cylinder This specification signed and witnessed levers with tllile lilve letl ers respecktlively, link; this 24th day of January, A. D., 1907. connecting t e ive evers wit the ea levers respectively, a transverse hand shaft WILLIAM SAUVAGE' mounted in bearings on the car body, and a Signed in the presence of chain connecting the fulcrum end of the cor- AMBROSE L. OSHEA,

responding cylinder lever with said shaft. W. B. GREELEY. 

